The Phoenix's Tear
by The Immortal Captain Young
Summary: Captain Jack Sparrow helps another captain get her ship back. Will they succeed or will both be destroyed by enemies and secrets?
1. Chapter 1

The Phoenix's Tear

Chapter 1

I yawned to myself as I sliced his arm open. "This is too easy."

"Van Steen!" my first mate shouted. I quickly whipped around and put my sword up to block the blow that would have cleaved me in two if it weren't for my first mate's watchfulness and my quick reflexes.

"Thanks!" I shouted and finished off one more sailor. I looked around and saw the only live opposing crewmembers were standing around looking resentful. I grinned and addressed the crew.

"Gentlemen!"

"We're not gentlemen!" one of my sailors interrupted me.

"Yes, but we must show propriety in front of these fine gentlemen," I remarked, motioning to the crew glaring at me. I gave them my sweetest smile and then continued.

"Gentlemen, the ship is ours! Lock the survivors in the brig, search the ship, and bring all treasure and anyone you may find to me!" I walked to the helm and wrapped my fingers around the wheel. I mused that it seemed to be a shame to destroy such a beautiful work of art. It would break my heart to blow it up. Suddenly, a brilliant idea came to me. "Do I have any other kind of idea?" I asked myself and chuckled slightly. "I'm sure that this ship is nicer and bigger than my old one. I can split my crew and take both ships back to Tortuga. I've always wanted to be a commodore."

"Men! Change of plans. We're taking this ship with us to Tortuga. Say hello to Commodore Arundel Van Steen! You half go back to the other ship and the others stay here with me!" I shouted and motioned who was to stay on this ship and who was to return to the other. I smiled deviously at the crew who had returned to the deck and who were adding to the rapidly expanding pile of swag at my feet.

"Are you sure this is wise Captain…er…Commodore?" My first mate Thompson asked me, "I don't completely trust some of these new crewmembers we just picked up."

"Well, that's why you're going back to The Phoenix's Tear, to keep an eye on them. You know that I trust you to do anything that I'm not available to do at the moment."

"Aye commodore," he said dejectedly," Just be careful."

"I know," I responded, "Sail to Tortuga and make sure that you keep in sight of this ship. If it makes you feel any better, I made sure to split up the new crewmembers between the ships."

"That does a little, but I've just got a bad feeling about this is all."

"Always that superstitious one eh?" I said sarcastically.

"Don't begrudge an old sailor his instincts that you so rudely call superstitions, it's saved me many a time."

"You know I listen to your feelings, but it's time to get moving, go back to The Tear, Thompson," I told him, and shouted, "Let's go men!"

I murmured back to Thompson, "Let's just get to Tortuga and then we can decide what to do about those crew members." He nodded and crossed back over to The Phoenix's Tear.

"Commodore, we're ready to go!" my Bo 'sun Marks shouted.

"Alright men! Lower the mainsail and pull up the anchor!" I held onto the warm, smooth wood of the wheel and smiled to myself. "Commodore Arundel Van Steen, it has such a lovely ring to it," I thought. I looked over to the helm of The Phoenix and saw Thompson staring worriedly at me. Trying to allay his wariness, I took off my hat, waved it over my head, and shouted "Tortuga!"

"Aye commodore," he responded, looking none too happy.

"Ahh well, he'll just have to get over it and get my lovely to Tortuga in one piece." I felt no apprehension about the current topic Thompson had reminded me of. My gut told me that it would be fine.

And a captain, excuse me, commodore's gut never steers her wrong


	2. Chapter 2: The Meeting

The Phoenix's Tear

Chapter 2: The Meeting

I deftly maneuvered my new prize into Tortuga's harbor.

"Old fool Thompson worrying for no reason about those crewmembers. I must be sure to bring it to his attention later." I sniffed the air, "Ahh, I love the smell of whores and liquor in the evening." I loved Tortuga. Don't get me wrong, the sea and my ship were my blood, my life, my soul, but Tortuga always refreshed me.

"I wonder who'll be in The Faithful Bride tonight." I thought to myself. "There's always someone, or something interesting in there. I need to remember to pick up the supplies that we needed also," I said, and grimaced at the thought of not having my precious rum.

"What's wrong, Commodore?" my 2nd mate Pete asked.

"Just thinking about me rum being gone."

An expression of pure anguish flashed onto Pete's face. "Bloody 'ell, I can see why. I just came to tell you that the crew is awaiting your orders."

"Alright men!" I shouted as I addressed the crew of both ships and started down to the main deck, "I need three of you to stay on each ship to guard it tonight. Everyone else just be back to the ships by sunset in three days time. Now Thompson, get your arse over here!" The crew rushed off the street to find a friendly mug and a warm bed.

"About our guests in the brig, I've decided that tomorrow those two shall be released."

"Not to be insubordinate, but why, shouldn't we just kill them or hold them for ransom?"

"Two reasons: 1.) I'm in a merciful turn of mind right about now, and 2.) There has to be someone to spread more rumors about the illustrious me isn't there?" I told him with a smirk and a bow.

"Ahh," he responded, "Have I ever told you that you have a devious mind?"

"Yes, the I never tire of hearing it." I looked at the rapidly sinking sun, "The Faithful Bride?"

"Just what an old sailor like me needs about now, The Faithful Bride it is." He said as we excited down the gangplank into Tortuga.

I sauntered into The Faithful Bride and got to my favorite table at the back of the place. I loved being able to survey the whole place. I told Thompson to get some rum and sat back to look around. There was fighting every other time I had been in here, and tonight was no different.

"It wouldn't be The Faithful Bride without it," I thought to myself. Just then, Thompson came back with the rum and sat down. I took a large swig, set down the mug, and swiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve. Looking up at him, I said, "I think that we should just keep an eye on those new crew members and keep an ear out for any rumors of mutiny. Good crewmembers are hard to find, and these were hard enough to find in the first place."

"That reminds me, commodore, I've been hearing some things about a round robin," he remarked. After seeing my face blanch, he quickly added, "Nothing but rumors mind ye, but something to keep in mind anyway."

All right, so tomorrow, we go back to the ship and ask some of the older crewmembers if they've heard anything. We might also go through the crew's belongings to see if we find anything informative. Simple as that," I responded, reverting back to my carefree manner.

"Aye," Thompson said, eyeing me with a dubious look.

"Bloody Hell, Thompson!" I exclaimed, "There's nothing we can do about it tonight!" He kept giving me that look, and wanting him to stop, I said, "Now, Thompson, about that Tortugan lady friend of yours, why don't you go try and find her tonight eh? Have a little fun."

"Find commodore, just remember my warning, and _try_ not to pass out in the streets again, you're mighty lucky that I found you when I did, something could have happened to you."

I winced at this painful memory, "Yes, but nothing did, now be a good 1st mate and run along to your lady friend."

"Alright, alright, I can take a hint," he said with a shake of his head, and walked out the door.

I muttered to myself, "Damn him for knowing about my fondness for rum. There's nothing wrong with my esteem for it. Just then, a voice from the table next to me piped up and said,

"Right you are love, nothing better in the world then some fine rum."

I looked over in surprise. The voice was coming from a man with his head on the table, which was covered in braids, dreads, beads, bones, and God knows what else. I had thought that he was passed out from drink hours earlier. "Losing my touch," I muttered, annoyed that I had missed his alertness. Hearing this he grinned, lifted his head, and continued,

"I couldn't help but overhearing-"

"You mean you eavesdropped," I interrupted.

"You learn a lot by pretending to be asleep," he said, his chocolate brown eyes twinkling. "Now, I couldn't help overhearing that you might be facing a mutiny. Now, I normally wouldn't say anything, but since you're so pretty, love, I thought I might give you my professional opinion."

"And who are you to give me your professional opinion?" I asked, wanting to see his reaction.

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, did you not hear of my quest to get The Black Pearl back from my mutinous crew and 1st mate Barbossa?"

"No," I said, trying to keep a straight face. "Why don't you tell me over a drink. I'll buy. Rum, I presume?"

"Aye, love, and over that delicious rum you can tell me all about yourself, Commodore."

"I suppose," I replied, and motioned a wench over to order more rum.

"That's the spirit!" he said. I smiled to myself. This was going to be an entertaining night.

"Whattya do with a drunken sailor, whattya do with a drunken sailor, whattya do with a drunken sailor, whattya do with a drunken sailor early in the morning!" I bellowed as I walked arm in arm with Sparrow through the streets of Tortuga, swinging my rum bottle with the other.

He joined in to my sea chantey, "Put 'im in the longboat 'til he's sober, put 'im in the longboat 'til he's sober, put 'im in the longboat 'til he's sober early in the morning!"

"I love this song!" I shouted and started skipping, dragging Sparrow.

"Why, Van Steen, I do believe we've arrived at the beach, he slurred, swaying slightly.

"I do believe that you are correct," I said, slurring and swaying just as much, trying to fight my way out of the hodgepodge my brain was in, and finally giving up. As we walked through the wet sand, we were simultaneously taking large gulps from our own rum bottles. My foot slid in the sand and I fell, dragging Sparrow down with me. We were both silent for a while, nursing our rum bottles and staring out at the water, watching it glisten with the moonlight shining on it.

"'Tis an exquisite night," he murmured softly, "Reminds me of another night," he added, putting his arm around my waist and playing with the scarf in my hair.

"Tell me about it." I stated.

"Well, love," he stated, lying down with his hands behind his head. "I told you about Elizabeth right?" he started, pulling me down so that I was laying the same way as him. I nodded and he continued. "It all started when we were marooned on that island…" he said and went off into an outrageous story involving rum, fire, explosions, and the British navy. I stared up at the pinpricks of stars in the sky and squeezed his hand as I drifted off into a drunken sleep, his voice and the crash of the waves on the beach lulling me to sleep.

The tickle of cold water on my toes woke me up abruptly, causing me to sit straight up and shake Sparrow awake.

"Tide's coming in," I murmured, "We'd best move further away 'afore we drown." He nodded in agreeance and dragged me up the beach.

"We have a few more hours before the docks next to us start crawling with people." He said and as soon as I lay down again I was out.


	3. Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

The Phoenix's Tear Ch. 3

I wasn't sure if it was the screeching of a bothersome seagull or the splitting headache that woke me up. Either way, it wasn't pleasant.

"Gahhh, I hate hangover," I uttered, putting a hand on my forehead.

"Aye, luv, it's too bad you can't hold your liquor as well as myself," said a voice from beside me. I sat up immediately and looked over at Sparrow, whom I had forgotten about.

"Easy luv," he chuckled.

"Yes, it is too bad," I retorted, eyeing him warily, but quickly getting over my shock at finding him awake. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long, I woke up a few minutes above you."

"Well, good, you haven't had much time to get into trouble yet, I drawled. He grinned and I continued, "I promised my first mate that I'd meet him at my ships this morning to go over a few things, so I'd best take my leave of you."

"Ehh, I've got nothing else to do this morning," Sparrow told me, "I might as well go with you, can't let a poor defenseless lady like yourself go gallivanting about by herself in a ruthless town like this without an escort. Can't have you being ravaged, now can we?"

Glaring at him for the "defenseless lady" comment, and replied "I'm surprised that you have so little faith in my abilities to defend myself. As a captain of my own ship and a pirate to boot, I must have had to defend myself at _one _time or another. Anyway, how do I know that you won't be the one doing the ravaging?"

He just grinned and shrugged, "Alright, alright, I confess that I was hoping that you might give me a tour of your ships. The Phoenix's Tear is quite famous you know."

"I suppose that I could spare a few moments of my _very _valuable time to show you around a little," I retorted, "Come on," Grabbing his arm I dragged him off to the docks, swaying a little from my hangover.

Before we got there, though, we ran into Thompson who glared at me, telling me that I was late.

"A commodore is never late, they arrive exactly when they mean to; everyone else is only early," I retorted.

He grinned, knowing me well, and then caught sight of Sparrow on my arm. "New plaything, eh?"

"Not really, I only met him on the way here, but he was so pretty that I couldn't pass up the opportunity." Now it was Sparrow's turn to glare at me for the "pretty" comment, nudging my side.

"Alright, if you insist, Thompson, this is Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl, if you can believe it, I've found someone who can keep up with my drinking."

"Happy to hear it, Commodore, now, shall we see to the ships and the matter at hand?" questioned Thompson.

"Yes, I suppose that that course of action would be best." I told him, starting off to the docks towing Sparrow. When we arrived at the docks, I looked around and muttered, "They have to be here somewhere, I made sure the crew tied them up here and I left some trusted ones to guard them overnight." I turned to Sparrow who was looking a little anxious, but quickly gave me a small smile and shrugged.

Turning to Thompson, I asked "Where's the ships, I was sure that they were here last night? Maybe we're on the wrong dock or something?"

"No, this is the right dock, it looked like your crewmembers that you were so unconcerned about made off with your ships."

"Now you know that's not entirely correct! I decided that we would take care of the whispers of mutiny this morning, it just happened to be a little late…" I mumbled as I sunk to the wooden dock beneath us. Putting my feet over the side, I stared dazedly at the horizon.

Sparrow sat down beside me, "Look luv, this isn't as bad as it looks."

"How do you know?" I spat. "The only crew I trusted completely, I left to guard the ships. The new crewmembers must have gone back to the ships last night, overpowered my guards, and sailed off with my ships. Bloody 'ell, I've gone from having two ships to having none at all in a matter of a few hours!"

"Yes, but you must have realized that you have some friends that can help you get your ship back."

"Yeah, like who?"

"Well, me for one," Thompson interrupted.

"Since I know how it feels to be without a ship, I suppose you can come along on the Pearl. You both obviously know how to be useful on ships, and I'm in the mood for an adventure. If you're nice I might even help you get your ships back," Sparrow informed me.

"You're offering to help someone who's in no position to do anything for you?" I asked.

"Yes, well, don't spread it around, it would ruin my reputation as a heartless pirate."

"Yes, we couldn't have that now could we," I drawled, not being able to help grinning, even in the midst of such a serious situation. "I can't think of any other alternative," I murmured.

"Right," he said excitedly, "To the Pearl!"

Wind is a wonderful thing. It can cool you down on a hot day, change your course, and of course propel the ship. But it was _not _wonderful now. The wind is usually on my side. Not today. Someone up above decided to torture me and make the wind abso-bloody-lutely nonexistent. So to get out of Tortuga harbor, unfortunately we would have to do my least favorite part of sailing, while my adrenaline was pumping, making me want to get out of here and get revenge on my crew. We would have to warp, which takes positively forever due to the fact that we had to set out the longboat to drop the kedging anchor, warp the ship to the anchor by tying a rope to the anchor and winding the other end of the rope to the capstan, while the crew turns the capstan, pull up the anchor, and repeat. Multiple times. Oh, and did I mention that the tide was coming in!?

"I hate warping. With a passion. Did I mention that I hate warping?" I grumbled, not for the first or last time.

"Yes, luv, I believe you have, right before you almost jumped overboard to swim after your ships," Sparrow said, without looking up from the helm, acting completely nonchalant.

"I just hate not being in control of what's happening," I complained bitterly.

"I discerned that, Commodore." He replied sagely.

"Why do you keep calling me that, it's not like I have a fleet of ships anymore?" I said, breathing deeply, trying to relax.

"Once a commodore, always a commodore," he said, grinning and looking up.

I tilted my head, saying softly, "I suppose, you're right." I went over to the side of the Pearl and stared out to sea; not really looking at anything, just thinking.

No one bothered me until we were out of the harbor.

As I was drowning myself in my sorrowful thoughts, there was a tap on my shoulder. In defense mode, I whipped around, and a voice said, "Easy luv, I was only trying to tell you that you'll be happy to know that the wind is at our backs, and we're making good time. Now, where do you think they'll be taking your ships?"

Relaxing when I realized that it was only Jack, I tried to remember if I had heard anything mentioned. "I heard something about Port Morant. Just mutterings, mind you, but it's worth it to check it."

"That's on Jamaica, we can visit Will and Elizabeth!" he said excitedly.

"You mean those same one's you're always going on about, 'They helped me get The Pearl back! They helped me break the curse! I was marooned with Elizabeth! Will's the son of Bootstrap!'" I mimicked

"The very same. Wonder how many little buggers they have now. Last time I visited, it was all sighs and surreptious glances," he remarked, making a disgusted noise at the back of his throat and rolling his eyes at the same time I did. We caught each other's eyes and grinned. On a whim, I glanced up at the main topmast and noticed that the sails were starting to backwind. Pointing out to Sparrow that he should alter his course so that we wouldn't start to go backwards, he calmly told me,

"I've been doing this for years, do you think that I don't notice these things?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Only trying to help _captain_. I'll not make the mistake of trying to help again. Since you don't need my help, Oh experienced one; I'll be below deck. Stalking below decks, I didn't look back.

Later that day, after my anger had cooled and Jack left the helm to Gibbs, he went looking for me. I was watching him walk from his cabin to the crews, to the galley, even the brig.

"Yeah, like I would be there," I smirked. I knew that he would find me in the crow's nest eventually; there were only so many places one could hide on a ship. As enjoyable as this was up here in the cool breezes, watching the world, I knew that I would have to face him in due course, but I'm way too stubborn and prideful to apologize to him. Ahh hubris, the downfall of many. While he was busy checking the brig, I scampered down to go to the bowsprit, and surprise him when he came back above deck. I didn't have to wait long. Jack soon reappeared and saw me at the bow. Sauntering over to me, he said,

"I've been looking all over, where have you been?"

Keeping a straight look on my face, I remarked, "I've been here the whole time. I guess you haven't been searching carefully enough."

Scowling at me, he said, "We both know you haven't, we'll just pretend you haven't lied to me and get on with it. I just wanted to talk to you."

I was completely caught off guard at this announcement. I studied him, his beat up leather hat perched rakishly on his head, his hair and scarves flying in the wind, and his long brown overcoat billowing out behind him. I knew he'd caught me staring, which he knew I knew, but only said,

"Well, how about it?"

I nodded, and we both sat down on the deck and he called one of the crew to bring us some rum.

"Look, I know we've both been on edge," I started. He made a noise of disbelief. "Okay, _I've_ been on edge, but not without reason."

"I know what brooding about what the future will bring looks like, I've done it enough myself. I've learned that it's best to talk about something else with someone to keep your mind off of it, he told me.

I nodded in agreeance, anything to keep my mind off The Tear.

"I warn you, it's not a nice story." I told him.

"D'ye think I've never heard a not so nice story?" he asked with a smile.

"Point taken, relax, it's a long one."


End file.
